Last words of the faithful
John Wesley
Died 1791 · founder of the Methodist movement
John Wesley, the tireless preacher who founded the Methodist movement, died in 1791 at age 87. Those at his bedside recorded that he repeated, 'The best of all is, God is with us,' a fitting summary of the assurance he had preached for over fifty years.
The last words
The story behind them
Few people have worked harder for God. John Wesley rode an estimated quarter of a million miles on horseback and preached tens of thousands of sermons across Britain, often in open fields to crowds the churches would not hold. The movement he began helped ignite a spiritual revival that historians credit with reshaping English society. And through all of it, the note he struck most often was assurance: that a person could actually know the love and presence of God.
So there is a rightness to how he ended. As he lay dying, surrounded by friends, those present recorded that he gathered his failing strength and said, twice, the same short sentence: 'The best of all is, God is with us.' Not, the best of all is my life's work; not, the best of all is heaven ahead. The best of all, at the finish of a great life, was the same thing that had been true at the start of it and at every hard mile between: God, with us. It is the meaning of the name given to Christ, Emmanuel, God with us, spoken as a final breath.
At the end of a great life, the best of all was not what he had done, but that God was with him.
What they died for, you can meet
None of these people died for an idea. They died holding onto a Person, convinced that death was not the end because he had already walked out of a tomb. The Living Bread is a quiet place to meet that same Jesus, read the Gospels for yourself, and ask your honest questions.
Jesus Christ is Lord.
Frequently asked questions
- What were John Wesley's last words?
- According to those at his deathbed in 1791, John Wesley said, twice, 'The best of all is, God is with us.' It summarized the assurance of God's presence that he had preached for more than fifty years.
- Who was John Wesley?
- John Wesley (1703-1791) was an English preacher and the founder of the Methodist movement. He traveled and preached tirelessly across Britain, helping spark a major religious revival, and emphasized that believers could know the assurance of God's love and presence.